SINGAPORE: Asia's billionaires led by Chinese tycoons enjoyed the fastest increase in their wealth this year compared to their peers in the rest of the world, a report said Wednesday.
The combined wealth of Asia's billionaires grew 18.7 percent from last year to $1.41 trillion, said the report by Wealth-X, a research firm specializing in ultra-high net worth individuals, and Swiss bank UBS.
Asia added 52 new US-dollar billionaires so far this year, bringing the region's total to 560, with China accounting for 33, or 63.5 percent, of the new entrants to the exclusive club.
Although Asia was in third place behind Europe and North America in terms of the total number of billionaires, those from Asia recorded the fastest growth in wealth of any region in the world. Asia accounted for 30 percent of the net increase in global billionaire wealth in 2014, the report said.
It said the number of billionaires worldwide rose 7.0 percent from the previous year to a record 2,325 — an increase of 155. Their combined wealth reached $7.3 trillion, up 12 percent.
Europe topped the rankings with 775 billionaires, followed by North America with 609, while the Middle East with 154 billionaires came in fourth place behind Asia.
Wealth of Asia’s billionaires rises to $1.41 trillion
